Chapter 8: Destination
White Swamp, Outer Zone.
The entire shallow-water marsh lay shrouded beneath the forest canopy. The tightly packed crowns above formed a natural ceiling, with only sparse sunlight filtering through, turning the dozens of meters of space between canopy and water into a natural steam chamber. This accelerated the evaporation of swamp water while dispersing the toxins within into the air.
In the murky, flocculent-filled shallow marsh, a group of violators huddled together, alert to any rustling in their surroundings.
Aside from the rustling of the canopy above stirred by the wind and the occasional croak of a poisonous frog, the area was eerily quiet.
The violators all sincerely hoped their hidden enemy would reveal himself. Unfortunately, they were destined for disappointment.
After they chose to enter the White Swamp, their enemy had shifted from Su Xiao to the potent toxins. Su Xiao was never rigid about how he eliminated his foes. If he could watch them die from poison, he wouldn't bother showing himself.
To the north, a hundred meters from the violators, Su Xiao sat on a tree fork over ten meters high, within an alternate space.
If the enemy detected his presence and tried to charge at him, that would be perfect. The poisonous swamp before him contained a mixture of six types of slow-acting toxins. Anyone rushing through would suffer at least three to four poisoning effects.
This method of using poison didn't come from the Alchemy Codex but from an alchemy book Su Xiao had obtained from the Bee Queen, Afra, in the Primordial Continent. It was titled "Poisons and Potions."
The author of this alchemy book was a true genius. The word "Potions" in the title could be ignored. It would be more fitting to rename the book "Encyclopedia of Alchemical Poisons."
That eccentric alchemist had initially been obsessed with pharmacology. After nearly dying from severe poisoning one time, he became infatuated with toxins and deadly venoms.
In that eccentric alchemist's description, the potency of a poison ranked second. The key was how to make the enemy ingest it.
Initially, the eccentric alchemist tried every method to make poisons colorless and odorless. But later, he discovered that for powerful individuals, unless they ingested a massive amount of poison, it wouldn't completely incapacitate them.
If too much colorless, odorless poison was mixed into a drink, the beverage would taste watered down, easily arousing suspicion.
As for the rare, potent toxins that could kill powerful beings in trace amounts, they were too scarce. Moreover, such potent toxins always came with powerful traits like erosion, homogenization, or vitality decay, which were even easier for enemies to detect.
High potency wouldn't work. Colorless and odorless poisons wouldn't work. This troubled the eccentric alchemist greatly. Until one day, his son wanted orange juice. Since the oranges weren't sweet that season, the alchemist simply brewed a digestive aid and, through ingredient ratios, gave it the taste of fresh orange juice.
When he created the "Fresh Orange Juice Potion," the eccentric alchemist slapped his thigh. Why had he been trying to make poisons colorless and odorless? Why not just make them taste like tea or alcohol? Why bother adding poison to an enemy's drink? Just give them tea-flavored poison directly.
After that, the eccentric alchemist seemed to open Pandora's Box. His developments in various slow-acting poisons, potent toxins, and deadly venoms were truly admirable.
The poison Su Xiao was using now came from a deadly venom formula researched by this eccentric alchemist. This formula looked like a skill tree, composed of 30 slow-acting poisons. As these slow poisons combined, they produced several different deadly venom effects, such as Sudden Death, Thirst Water, Green Poison Witch, Blood Ten, and Rabid Dog.
A sharp scream came from a hundred meters away. One of the violators had triggered the "Deadly Venom: Green Poison Witch."
Among the group, a man so thin he was skin and bones let out a piercing shriek. With that cry, a light green sound wave spread outward.
Thump~
All the violators hit by the light green sound wave emitted green smoke. Then they received notifications.
[Warning: You have been affected by the constant maximum effect of Deadly Venom: Green Poison Witch. You will take corresponding poison damage based on your poison resistance.]
[You take 13 points of poison damage. Your poison resistance has been reduced to 87.6%.]
[You take 475 points of poison damage. Your poison resistance has been reduced to 51.4%.]
[You take 1957 points of poison damage. Your poison resistance has been reduced to 23.8%.]
[You take 3882 points of poison damage. Your poison resistance has been reduced to 3.17%.]
[You take 5162 points of poison damage. Your poison resistance has been reduced to -27.52%.]
[While under the effect of Deadly Venom: Green Poison Witch, if your poison resistance falls below 0%, you will undergo a poison instant death judgment.]
[You have died.]
With a splash of filthy water, the violator who had triggered the "Green Poison Witch" effect dropped dead, along with 15 others nearby.
That was how Green Poison Witch worked. Either it wouldn't trigger, or once it did, death was almost certain. The initial 13 to 15 points of poison damage seemed insignificant, but once poison resistance dropped, Green Poison Witch became exceptionally vicious, with poison damage multiplying.
With the violators suddenly dropping in a small cluster, Xianji's expression darkened further. She wasn't faring well either. After being hit by "Deadly Venom: Blood Ten," her health was plummeting at a rate of 132 to 140 points per second.
The Crow Woman beside her wasn't much better. Though she wasn't injured, her urge to attack had become nearly uncontrollable. This was the effect of "Deadly Venom: Rabid Dog." As time passed, the Crow Woman's rationality would decrease, and her aggression would increase.
"Xianji, we can't chase anymore."
Minglang spoke, also feeling a growing thirst. Mindful of the teammate who had died from dehydration earlier, he didn't dare drink any fresh water.
Minglang's choice was correct. "Deadly Venom: Thirst Water" made death come faster the more one drank. But how long could he hold out? Soon, it wouldn't be a matter of willpower keeping him from drinking.
Compared to the others, Feng's situation was peculiar. The blue on her skin had faded, but a small white flower had sprouted from her head.
If Feng plucked this white flower, she would die instantly. If she didn't, after five minutes of the flower absorbing her life force to grow, it would sprout two arms and a sharp-toothed mouth, growing on top of her head to fight her to the death. That was a guaranteed death.
From earlier, the poison damage intensity the violators were suffering had sharply increased, from 3 to 5 points per second to 60 to 100 points per second.
"Xianji, retreat!"
By now, all the violators guessed this was Su Xiao's doing, but realizing that was meaningless.
"Crow Woman, grab me. You didn't leave a blood mark on the space scroll. Only by holding me can I take you away."
Pfft!
As Xianji finished speaking, the Crow Woman's five fingers stabbed into her side. Blood immediately soaked the side of Xianji's dress.
Xianji said nothing. She had already seen the bloodshot gleam in the Crow Woman's eyes and her boiling murderous intent.
Xianji took out a scroll the size of a painting. As she tore it open with both hands, suction force emerged from within, pulling Xianji and the others in one by one.
Huishershi had sent Xianji, Minglang, Tieshan, Shouhao, Feng, and 75 of the strongest violators to the north to deal with Su Xiao. With Huishershi's methods, he must have left them an escape route. The Treeborn World had only just opened; he wouldn't discard so many violators yet.
A hundred meters away, sitting on a tree fork in the alternate space, Su Xiao didn't stop Xianji and the others from leaving. Baha's Demon Hawk Domain had too long a cooldown, and the deadly venom on those people had already erupted.
This was the advantage of using alchemical poisons against enemies. No need to worry about them escaping. Once the slow poisons combined into deadly venom, all that was left was to wait.
Su Xiao, Baha, and a towering tree all emerged from the alternate space. Su Xiao lit a cigarette, waiting for the kill notifications.
[You have killed Violator 27**52 (Sanctuary Paradise).]
[You gain 1 Kill Merit.]
[You gain 1 Diamond Honor Medal.]
[You have killed Violator 19**11 (Death Paradise).]
[You gain 1 Kill Merit.]
[You gain 1 Diamond Honor Medal.]
Kill notifications appeared one after another. When Su Xiao had gained 71 Kill Merits from this encounter, no more notifications came.
Of the 80 violators who had confidently marched north to destroy the Soul Severing Shadow Stone or eliminate Su Xiao, only 9 crawled back alive. They were defeated like broken-backed dogs, never even seeing the enemy's face, let alone engaging in battle.
Su Xiao wasn't bothered by failing to wipe them all out. The conflict in the Treeborn World was just beginning. As for them deducing his identity as an alchemist from the alchemical poisons, that would require some serious mental gymnastics. Besides, there were many types of poisons, and the Trade Market in Paradise sold all kinds of items. As a Hunter of Reincarnation Paradise, it was perfectly normal for Su Xiao to carry poison props and high-powered explosives.
The combination of Xianji and the Crow Woman was indeed threatening. One could sense the Soul Severing Shadow Stone, and the other could track Su Xiao. Together, they put considerable pressure on him.
Now that he had dealt with them, Su Xiao could safely head deeper into the Black Forest. The journey was already dangerous enough; he couldn't afford additional risks.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang barked from under the tree. In this battle, Bubu Wang was definitely the MVP. Without him following the enemy, many things wouldn't have been possible.
Su Xiao jumped down from the tree fork. Just as he was about to lead Bubu Wang and Baha deeper into the White Swamp, a whooshing sound came.
Bang! A fluorescent spike embedded itself in a nearby tree trunk. Then, the nearly two-meter-long spike went limp. It was actually a slender tentacle about the thickness of a thumb, glowing with white fluorescence.
Su Xiao looked toward the direction the tentacle came from. A hundred meters away, a pale-faced Ona was leaning against a tree trunk with one hand, clearly poisoned.
Beside her, Woode was unharmed. He had the Abyssal Jar on him, making him immune to deadly venom.
The Abyssal Jar had many drawbacks, but also many uses. However, compared to the price paid, those uses weren't so appealing. Otherwise, the Devil Clan wouldn't have been so eager to get rid of it, like sending off a troublesome father.
"This swamp is really dangerous. Even you, an Ancient God System contractor, got poisoned."
"This must be your doing. How could a swamp have so many types of deadly venom?"
"Slander."
"My wife told me more than once to be careful of Bai Ye's poison. I've learned my lesson today."
"Defamation."
"Ugh!"
Ona spat out a mouthful of blood. When it fell into the water, it attracted a swarm of leeches. The next second, the leeches floated to the surface, all dead.
A piece of black bone fragment was tossed over. Su Xiao caught it and examined it. There were faint traces of sparks on the black bone, as if it had been burned.
[You have obtained Divine Bone (Immortal Rank).]
Ona, who had thrown the Divine Bone, was breathing rapidly. The meaning was clear: give her the antidote.
"Unfortunately, you've been hit by 'Swallowing Fish.' It's an incurable poison."
Hearing this, Ona's eye twitched.
"Then I'm just waiting to die?"
"Don't worry..."
Su Xiao was cut off mid-sentence by Ona. "I knew you'd have a way."
"The toxicity of Swallowing Fish isn't fatal. Although this poison has supernatural properties and can't be neutralized, carbonic acid can temporarily counteract its effects, allowing you to survive the poisoning process."
"A non-lethal poison? No problem, I can endure it. Give me back the Divine Bone."
Ona breathed a sigh of relief. She had trained her willpower since childhood.
"In three minutes, your blood will begin to crystallize."
"Minor issue. Give me back the Divine Bone."
"In five minutes, your skin will shrivel."
"!!"
Ona's gaze sharpened. She stopped mentioning the Divine Bone.
"In seven minutes, you'll start to age..."
"That thing called carbonic acid, name your price."
Ona spoke with lowered eyelids. If it were just unbearable pain, she would only smile. But shriveled skin and aging? That was absolutely unacceptable.
At Su Xiao's signal, Bubu Wang pulled out a bottle of cola and even produced a straw.
Su Xiao unscrewed the cola, inserted the straw, and handed it to Ona. "Starting now, drink continuously."
"How much do I need to drink?"
"About 150 liters. The main components of Deadly Venom: Swallowing Fish are 'Ni Oxide' and 'Dissociated Protein.' Carbonic acid hinders the combination of 'Ni Oxide' and 'Dissociated Protein,' allowing the 'Dissociated Protein' to be absorbed by the blood first. The remaining 'Ni Oxide' is harmless..."
Su Xiao's explanation, up to the part about 'Ni Oxide being harmless,' was understandable to Woode and Ona. Beyond that, both wore increasingly bewildered expressions.
150 liters of cola. They had that much in the team storage space. Bubu Wang had bought it. Trading this cola for an Immortal Rank Divine Bone was a steal.
As for carbonic acid alleviating the poison, that was pure nonsense. The antidote was already mixed into the first bottle of cola.
Why make Ona drink so much cola? To make the 'customer' feel that alleviating the deadly venom wasn't easy, so her money wasn't wasted. Otherwise, given Ona's temperament, she would definitely try to get the Divine Bone back.
If frugality were quantified, Su Xiao would be -5, Woode -3, and Ona at least 6000.
The good teammate trio regrouped. With Su Xiao at the front, Woode on the left, and Ona on the right, they continued north along the monkey's footprints.
Su Xiao estimated that the Soul Severing Shadow Stone was over 80% likely to be in the Black Forest, meaning they had to go deep into the far north. Since they were going that way, they might as well check out the Primordial Tree in the far north.
They trudged through the poisonous swamp until dark, still not out of the White Swamp. It wasn't until 8 a.m. the next day that Su Xiao finally left the swamp.
The morning sun cast down. Around them were sparse trees, and the ground was covered in a layer of moss, soft underfoot.
Su Xiao took out the map to check. Their current location was the innermost part of the White Swamp. Beyond this area lay the final destination: the Black Forest.
They hadn't gone far when Su Xiao spotted a naive figure sitting under a tree a few dozen meters away.
It was a mushroom person. Overall, it looked like a large mushroom about the thickness of a water vat. It stood about 2.5 meters tall, with a thick mushroom cap on top like a huge round hat. Below, on the stalk, were its two eyes and mouth near the top. It had no other facial features. Lower down were its arms and hands.
At the very bottom were its short, stubby legs. With those little legs, it probably couldn't run fast.
The mushroom person was sound asleep, unaware of Su Xiao's group approaching. Its silly appearance didn't seem dangerous at all.
Suddenly, the mushroom person's snoring stopped. It opened its eyes. Those eyes had no distinction between pupil and sclera, only slowly writhing darkness.
Boom!!
An explosion came from under the tree. Wood chips flew as the mushroom person vanished from its spot.
Clang~
A blade sliced through. The passing mushroom person had a slash mark on its body. Instead of being cut cleanly in half, the wound showed signs of dissolving, quickly healing.
The mushroom person suddenly appeared in front of Woode, in a punching stance. Without giving Woode a chance to dodge, it threw a punch.
With a loud crash, Woode vanished from his spot. Where he had been, a several-meter-wide trench stretched far into the distance, carved out by the shockwave of the mushroom person's punch.
The straw Ona had been holding in her mouth slipped into the cola bottle. She hadn't expected that a silly-looking mushroom person could throw such a terrifying punch.
What was even more surprising was that after throwing that punch, the mushroom person fell straight backward, as if completely drained of energy and severely exhausted.
Several slashes sliced through in succession. The mushroom person was chopped to pieces. A black soul energy gradually dissipated. This was what gave the mushroom person its intelligence and strength.
[You have killed Mushroom Tribe Member: Dutata (Elite Unit).]
[You gain 25 Soul Coins.]
A few minutes later, Woode walked over, his suit nearly reduced to rags. He moved slowly, pausing to rest every few steps.
"I almost died just now..."
Woode looked with lingering fear at the chopped-up mushroom person. He had nearly been killed by that single punch.
Woode's survivability wasn't weak. In fact, it was stronger than most Tank System contractors at the Eighth Rank. Su Xiao had confirmed this back in the World of Paintings when they fought the Blood Qi Monster and the Sun Bird.
With that kind of survivability, Woode had almost been one-shot by the mushroom person. Although it was an elite unit, its attack power was absurdly high.
But there was a catch. The mushroom person seemed to only have one combo: super-fast charge plus a one-punch kill. After throwing that punch, it was completely exhausted and couldn't move. This was likely the price for such abnormal attack power.
Su Xiao estimated that with his own survivability, taking three punches would be very bad, four would likely kill him, and five would be certain death.
Su Xiao took out the [Doom Coin] and flipped it. Although he already guessed the result, he wanted to test the coin's effect. He hadn't used it since creating it.
The coin landed on the back of his hand. He slapped it with his other hand. The front side, a golden skull, represented Minor Doom. The back side, a pain mask, represented Major Doom. The former meant decent luck; the latter meant serious trouble, possibly death.
Su Xiao lifted his hand. The [Doom Coin] showed the front side: Minor Doom. This meant he wouldn't encounter any particularly dangerous situations in the next few hours?
He was a bit skeptical. He had already seen the mushroom person's strength. This fungal lifeform was extremely extreme. Before throwing that punch, it was not only incredibly tough but also, thanks to its fungal nature, immune to slashing damage.
After Woode changed into a new black-purple suit, the trio set off again. Not far ahead, several more mushroom people came into view.
Compared to the previous 2.5-meter-tall mushroom person, these six were about 1.6 to 1.7 meters tall. Their plump stalks had terrified eyes staring at Su Xiao and the others.
"Houba! (Unknown Language)"
One mushroom person spread its arms, bluffing as it stood in front of a statue. Compared to the elite mushroom person earlier, these ordinary mushroom people were much weaker, and they looked especially scared.
Despite that, they still stood in front of the stone statue, as if vowing to protect it with their lives.
The stone statue depicted a female figure with very long hair trailing to the ground, wearing a crown on her head.
This statue looked very similar to the Ghost Clan Queen Su Xiao had seen earlier. The expression in the eyes was particularly alike, and the crown was identical.
This was puzzling. Earlier, the old ghost had said the Ghost Clan wanted to leave the Cold Cemetery and move to the White Swamp but couldn't defeat the Mushroom Tribe and had to retreat.
Moreover, according to the old ghost, after the Ghost Clan Queen ascended, she also led the Ghost Clan to attack the Mushroom Tribe. According to the old ghost, the Ghost Clan Queen suffered a major defeat. Even after losing, she still refused to sit on the Stone Throne to suppress the million Ice Slaves below.
If that was the case, why were these six mushroom people risking their lives to protect the Ghost Clan Queen's statue? These silly creatures were trembling with fear from Su Xiao's aura, yet they still stretched out their arms to look bigger, surrounding the Ghost Clan Queen's statue in protection, refusing to retreat.
Soon, a large group of mushroom people gathered. Though they also feared Su Xiao's aura, they all ran over on their thick little legs, surrounding the queen's statue, chanting "Houba," "Houba" in unison.
Just then, several elite mushroom people arrived. These fools weren't afraid of Su Xiao. From a distance, they assumed a single-fist charging stance.
Su Xiao pulled the small crystal vial containing the Ghost Clan Queen's blood from the end of his sword hilt. He held it in his hand, activating the residual energy within to emit a fluctuation.
The elite mushroom people, who had been charging, sensed this fluctuation and stopped. They looked at Su Xiao suspiciously. The ordinary mushroom people, who had no combat power, also stopped chanting "Houba, Houba."
The mushroom people's hostility decreased significantly. However, due to the powerful negotiation effect of Su Xiao's -12 Charm Attribute, none of them approached.
The mushroom people looked at each other. Eventually, they chose not to initiate contact. Many sat on the ground, looking up to bask in the sunlight, looking content.
More and more mushroom people gathered. These ordinary mushroom people were indeed not strong compared to Su Xiao, Woode, and the others, but that didn't mean they were weak. As for the elite mushroom people, they were ferocious. If there were enough of them, these "One-Punch Shrooms" could unleash terrifying combat power.
Killing elite mushroom people yielded Soul Coins, but setting aside the risk, Su Xiao already had a more stable income method.
Using the Ghost Clan Queen's blood as a pass, wherever Su Xiao went, the mushroom people spontaneously made way. Conservatively estimated, there were hundreds of thousands of them, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Based on the size of the inner White Swamp, the number of mushroom people here might exceed a million, or even several million. No wonder the Ghost Clan dared not move to the White Swamp. With their current population and overall strength, they were no match for the Mushroom Tribe.
Following the direction on the map, Su Xiao headed north for less than two hours before finally reaching the Black Forest.
The morning had been sunny, but upon entering the Black Forest, the sky above turned pitch black. Visibility wasn't bad, but it was dark, damp, and cold.
Thin mist drifted between the trees. The trees looked alive but had no vitality, adding to the Black Forest's gloominess.
The surroundings were eerily quiet. This atmosphere made Bubu Wang increasingly nervous. He felt this place was even scarier than the Cold Cemetery.
A damp, cold wind blew, sounding like ghostly wails. A few twisted wandering souls drifted by. Seeing this, Bubu Wang's gaze grew serious. He turned to look at Su Xiao, but Su Xiao had vanished.
Suddenly! A pale woman's face appeared right in front of Bubu Wang, less than 2 centimeters from his nose. The woman's eyes were hollow black pits, her lips blood-red to the point of being creepy, and her hair was disheveled.
"Woof yip!"
Bubu Wang was so scared he almost spoke human language. His crotch felt warm. He turned and ran, but his four dog legs were too weak from fear to move fast.
"Woof awoo!"
Bubu Wang was almost in tears. He just wanted to find where Su Xiao was.
Wailing souls howled. Vicious ghosts shrieked. Shadowy figures flitted around them.
After running a distance, Bubu Wang looked back. The female ghost was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief. When he instinctively turned his head, an even more terrifying pale ghost face appeared right in front of him.
"Two hundred fifty (Unknown Dog Language)."
Bubu Wang plopped down on his butt. Just then, a hand suddenly appeared, pressing on Bubu Wang's dog head. Everything around froze. Thousands of ghost faces all cracked and shattered one by one.
In Bubu Wang's terrified little eyes, the world seemed to break apart like a layer. The Black Forest's appearance didn't change, but the ghost faces, wailing souls, and everything else disappeared.
"Just an illusion."
Su Xiao patted Bubu Wang's head. Then, a smell of urine wafted into his nose.
"Bubu, you peed yourself from fear."
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang immediately denied it, meaning he hadn't peed himself. He had clearly been so scared he pooped. He could smell the stench himself.
Indeed, a foul smell followed. Su Xiao walked over to Baha, grabbed his head, and spun him around a few times. Baha's legs kicked out, and he woke up.
Su Xiao walked toward Woode. Before he could act, Woode's pupil flame returned to normal. He nodded at Su Xiao, indicating he was fine.
"An illusion, huh."
Ona also broke free from the illusion. Her aura became extremely dangerous. In the illusion, she had seen someone kill Zuiyasi and their child. Ona didn't rush in. She calmly judged that anyone who could kill her husband could also kill her. She had to escape. The rest of her life would be one thing: slowly killing every relative, friend, and even every acquaintance of the enemy, destroying their spirit, torturing their soul, and finally grinding their bones to dust.
Just as Ona was about to become an avenging angel, she suddenly realized it was an illusion.
Ona held the cola bottle with one hand, took a sip through the straw, and burped. On this journey, she had drunk so much cola she was about to throw up.
"Bai Ye, how much more of this stuff do I need to drink?"
"500 milliliters per bottle, 160 liters total. You do the math."
As Su Xiao spoke, he rubbed his forehead. Helping Bubu Wang and Baha break free from the illusion had put a heavy strain on his spirit. He needed a moment to recover from the dizziness.
"Wait! You said earlier it was 150 liters total."
Ona was sharp. She immediately realized she had been tricked.
"You misremembered."
"A man's mouth is a ghost's lie."
Ona threw away the remaining half bottle of cola. The first few bottles were good, but after 60, they weren't. After 180, Ona declared she had drunk a lifetime's worth of cola in one day.
Entering the Black Forest triggered illusions. Su Xiao was immune to this. He hadn't even noticed until he saw Bubu Wang, Baha, Woode, and Ona all stop, realizing that entering this place caused illusions.
Thin mist drifted in the Black Forest. Su Xiao chose to explore cautiously. After traveling a distance, he found that although there were powerful and eerie beings in the Black Forest, they didn't have strong territorial instincts. They seemed to have a "live and let live" attitude.
Su Xiao looked at a pitch-black figure a few dozen meters away. This being's body seemed to be made of darkness and shadow.
This being was powerful. Against it, Su Xiao had at most a 40% chance of winning. Its aura was too strange, appearing and disappearing. It wasn't alive, wasn't a soul, wasn't an energy body. It could only be seen due to the Black Forest's special environment.
Su Xiao stood still. The shadow a few dozen meters away also didn't move. After more than ten seconds, as if confirming that Su Xiao wouldn't suddenly attack, the shadow retreated backward, each step flickering far away, until it disappeared.
"Phew~"
Woode breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing that thing had really made him break out in a cold sweat.
The group continued deeper into the Black Forest. Surprisingly, it went smoothly. Although there were many powerful beings here, none attacked proactively.
When Su Xiao reached the deepest part of the Black Forest, a giant tree dozens of meters thick and a kilometer tall appeared ahead. It was the Primordial Tree of the far north.
This Primordial Tree was somewhat drier than the one in "Yada Ancient Capital." At the base of its trunk, a tree hole several meters in diameter slanted downward.
The tree hole was pitch black. A trail of golden monkey footprints led inside. It was the monkey's trail. The Soul Severing Shadow Stone should be inside this slanted, pitch-black tree hole.
The darkness inside wasn't just dim light; it was more substantial darkness. This reminded Su Xiao of the darkness the Yada people had driven away long ago. Was it the same darkness from this tree hole?
Su Xiao looked around. Besides the Primordial Tree, there was another tree about a meter thick that also looked special. Its trunk seemed to have an old, large face.
Su Xiao signaled Woode and Ona with his eyes, meaning they should negotiate with this ancient tree.
Ona stepped forward with a smile and said softly, "Hello, Ancient Tree Elder."
As if hearing her voice, the old face on the trunk moved. A pair of cloudy old eyes opened, stared at Ona for a moment, then the tree person yawned, closed its eyes, and continued resting.
Ona's right fist slowly clenched, and her smile grew sweeter.
"Cough."
Woode coughed lightly, signaling Ona to step aside and let a professional handle it.
"Ancient Tree..."
"Ah-choo!"
The tree person sneezed, spraying green tree sap everywhere. Then it closed its eyes again.
Woode said nothing, wiping the tree sap off his face.
Su Xiao pushed the blocking Woode aside.
Clang~
The long blade was drawn. Su Xiao's expression was blank. He said nothing.
"You... hello."
The tree person's voice was deep and slow. After speaking, the old face gave a kind smile.
Seeing this, Ona crossed her arms and snorted. Woode remained silent, wondering if personal charm really mattered in negotiation.
"Old tree, what do we need to prepare to enter there?"
Su Xiao pointed his long blade at the Primordial Tree's hole.
"Oh~, you want to... go in there?"
The old tree spoke slowly.
"Yes."
"This goes back several thousand years. It was a very, very long time ago..."
"Get to the point."
Su Xiao frowned. Every tree person he met, especially old ones, spoke slower and slower.
"Alright. This goes back several thousand years. It was a very, very long time ago. At that time..."
"..."
Su Xiao still frowned. Beside him, Bubu Wang and Baha were gradually putting on 'pain masks.'
Seeing this, the old tree asked with concern, "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. Continue."
"Alright. This goes back several thousand years..."
Hearing this, Su Xiao wanted to chop down this ancient tree. The old thing had rambled for over ten minutes and was starting over?
After observing for a moment, Su Xiao noticed something. This old tree person wasn't doing it on purpose. It seemed to have dementia. Seeing this, Su Xiao could only sit down cross-legged and listen patiently.
PS: (Click on this chapter's comment to view the world map.)